Measuring Subjective Recovery in People with Schizophrenia and Exploring its Relationship with Symptom Severity, Functioning, and Well-Being

Page: 98-102
Shari Tess Mathew and Bergai Parthsarathy Nirmala (Department of Psychiatric Social Work, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, (NIMHANS), Bangalore, Karnataka)
Kommu John Vijay Sagar (Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, (NIMHANS), Bangalore, Karnataka)

Clinical recovery and personal recovery are two distinct concepts of recovery widely used in defining recovery from mental illness. The current study was designed to measure subjective recovery in people with Schizophrenia and to explore its relationship with symptom severity, functioning and subjective well-being. A total of 80 participants with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia (ICD 10 criteria) were recruited and were evaluated on the Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale, The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia (PANSS) and The Subjective Well-being Inventory (SUBI). Data was analysed using Spearman’s correlation test. The findings revealed overall symptom severity to have a negative correlation with subjective recovery and its domains. Functioning and subjective well-being was found to be positively correlated with overall subjective recovery. The severity of symptoms can affect a person’s self-reported levels of recovery; higher symptom severity can lead to lower levels of subjective recovery. Emphasis on both the clinical and personal recovery approaches is required in mental health interventions.